As “Mass” Progressed I Was Both Disappointed and Annoyed

Bishop Coyne: Went to Mass and Things
Went Downhill From There

This morning I attended Mass rather than concelebrated Mass. Earlier in the week I was unable to find a Saturday morning Mass anywhere in the area so I was pretty much going to have to miss Mass today. But late last night on the internet I found a church abut a half an hour away that had an 8:00 AM Mass.

I left around 7:15 AM and got there in plenty of time to spend some time preparing for Mass and, hopefully, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When Mass began, the priest, a guy about my age, came out and said, “Hello,” and then proceeded with the Mass. The only problem was he had forgotten the Sign of the Cross. Well, maybe he was just a little distracted. I think we did the penetential rite but I’m not sure. There was no “Gloria” so I was beginning to think we weren’t going to be celebrating the Feast of the Transfiguration since it hadn’t been mentioned yet but eventually we got there when he “prayed” a spontaneous opening prayer that did mention the Transfiguration.

Things kind of went downhill from there. I’ll spare you the details. I will say I’m pretty sure it was still a valid Mass even though he changed the words of the Eucharistic institution – a lot, not just a few. There is a theological practice of the Church called “Ecclesia supplet” (“the Church provides”) where if a priest inadvertently forgets some of the words of the ritual form or changes them, the “Church” recognizes the good faith of those gathered and their right to valid celebration of the sacraments and provides sacramental validity in the case of a human error or priestly malpractice. This is done for the sake of the people of God and not as an excuse for the sloppy or ‘creative’ celebration of the priest or bishop. Even though the priest went way over the the line in terms of his ‘creativity’ this morning, I think the intention of those us who came to Mass was to celebrate the Eucharist as the Church intends and so it was.

As “Mass” progressed I was both disappointed and annoyed. I wasn’t angry. I learned the trick long ago of moving into emotional “cruise control” when this stuff starts to happen. I also began to wonder if I should say something to the priest afterwards. I mean, I was just there as a visitor not as his bishop or vicar general. I was also on vacation so … Nevertheless, I didn’t let it go. What I did or did not do, I will leave between me and the priest. I hope it was helpful.

Why I Didn’t Go to Confession Today.

I do know one thing. I certainly wasn’t going to ask him to hear my Confession. If he changed the words of the Institution Narrative, there’s no telling what he might do with the words of Absolution. I suppose I could have asked him before we began the sacrament if he would be so kind as to use the Church’s rite and not his own but then that opens a whole can of worms. So I didn’t go to Confession. I’ll try and make an appointment with a priest and go Monday. But isn’t it a shame that I couldn’t go to Confession?

The Latin Mass: My Thoughts

Every time people ask my why some in the Church have a desire for the “extraordinary rite,” the traditional Latin Mass, I guess I can give them at least one good reason. Masses like this. When one attends the Mass according to the Tridentine Rite, you know what you are going to get. There is no one being ‘creative,’ no one making up their own prayers or rite, and no question of validity.

I am a child of Vatican II. From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening at Mass, it has been the Mass of Pope Paul VI. I have been formed in it. I have studied it. I love it. Out of it, I have been ordained a deacon, a priest, and a bishop to celebrate it for the people of God. I have no desire to celebrate the Tridentine Rite but any time I hear people criticize those who want the “traditional” Mass, I am more inclined to understand why they want this form of the Mass. Perhaps if each priest were committed to the correct celebration of the present Mass of Paul VI – the Church’s rites and not the rite of Fr. X – then maybe there would be less clamor for the “traditional” rite. Just a thought.
by Bishop Chris Coyne with slight editing

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193 comments to As “Mass” Progressed I Was Both Disappointed and Annoyed

…..Another way to help immodest dressers, is by setting a good example…..STOP criticizing them! Get to know them!… Invite them for coffee, be sweet to them, S-L-O-W-L-Y and G-E-N-T-L-Y…. offer some friendly advice. Take them window shopping with you. Pray first though, you don’t want to get Slowly influenced! Don’t trust yourself! Be mindful of your own flaws,too.
Nobody ever told me when I dressed immodestly….
I just started developing friendly aquaintance-like relationships….and it didn’t take long before I actually saw myself more clearly. It happened fast enough, that I even got embarassed. I changed almost immediately!
Again,….I hope this helps.
Chow for now. 🙂

Hello, everyone!…
After reading just a few messages above…
I had to stop reading. I realized I was wasting far too much time!!!….many clergy NEED prayer!!!
This is the kind of results we get when we try to modernize our churches.
I was one of those parishioners back in 2000 who,
Used to dress quite immodestly too. Thanks to some very powerful praters that came from some very pious people….
Mamma Mary heard their requests for me to change the way I
Present myself in public. It also made me see myself more clearly regarding what I wear, especially in church.
Please pray for the people you see who may seem to not care what they wear to church….IT WILL be a prayer that gets answered. But, don’t make things worse by criticizing
How they look. The parish priest should be police-ing the parish in extreme immodestly dressed cases.
I strongly feel that to get to the root of the problem
Regarding immodest dressing….we need to consider that these individuals may be struggling with IMPURITY.
Many immodest dressers in the church are still living of this world, instead of living just in this world.
Many of them still have a strong grasp on materialism.
Many of them are also VERY insecure. They are practically
Telling you by the clothes and body exposures, that,….
“Look at me, not her!…will you!!!” Or “Notice me,no one else will you?!!” And what’s sad,…is that, in most cases
The men only see something temporary but, not for long-term
Like marriage. And then,these ladies wonder why they are still single!!!! My father told me from a males point of view what he thinks of immodest dressers in the church. He also said that men would much rather see a more conservative dresser who leaves at least….something to the imagination.
(Figuratively speaking…lol.) We should only imagine Heavenly things!
Sorry, if I offended anyone but,bottom line is that….
We need to pray more, and JUDGE LESS!!!!!!!!
Cheerio! 🙂

My primary ministry is to bring The Divine Mercy message as revealed to St. Faustina to parishes around our nation. Often I find myself in some very devout parishes. Sometimes I find myself in some rather odd parishes. Thankfully I am often not welcomed at many of the parishes I have attempted to contact. And all too often I listen to horror stories such as this. Let this story inspire us to pray for one another and for Holy priests who desire to do the will of Holy Mother Church. Happy Mother’s Day – Mater Ecclesia!

Attended Mass for Christmas Eve at a church out of town. It was the one my daughter attends. I was well prepared for the new language for the responses in the Mass, by my pastor at our home church. What I was not prepared for was the liturgical irregularities within Mass, which apparently is inspired by the priest…such as the response I was expecting “Lord, I am not worth for you to enter under my roof” was replaced with “By the breaking of the bread, you will know me.” Also, the bread used for communion appeared to be more than flour and water…it was identical to the bread used at a protestant wedding I had attended a few weeks prior. I would make my concerns known to the Bishop of this priest, but it will most certainly fall on deaf ears…this priest has been there for 15 years and the Bishop has concelebrated Mass with this priest, or so I was told, by my daughter who basically told me to “butt out.” I am very concerned for our Church..we are a UNIVERSAL church, with leadership established not by man, but through the divine intervetion of God. Lord have mercy on us!

I just attended a Sunday mass (lower case “m” on purpose) in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I was very disappointed that both the Gloria and the Credo were omitted from the mass. Is this one of the changes that are coming this fall with the new novus ordo? What is happening to my Church? Is this even a valid Mass? No wonder the attendance at Mass is in such a state of affairs.

Folks, flee the Novus Ordo. They are all modernists or heretics in general who are out to destroy the Catholic faith of millions. If you want to save your soul, preserve the faith for you and your family – GET THE HELL OUT OF THE FALSE NOVUS ORDO SECT!

Sincerely in Charity,
Eric M. Brown- Catholic, Christian, and Thomist and in that order.

Your Excellency,
You said:
“I am a child of Vatican II. From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening at Mass,it has been the Mass of Pope Paul VI. I have been formed in it. I have studied it. I love it. Out of it,I have been ordained a deacon,a priest,and a bishop to celebrate it for the people of God. I have no desire to celebrate the Tridentine Rite…”

With all due respect to your state in life and Office in Holy Mother Church, I do not understand you. I am 47 years old, a high school dropout, and a man of few means. But I do understand some things. And one of those is this: The Mass of All Time, the Tridentine Mass, the Mass that was good enough for the saint you are probably named after, the Mass that served humanity for hundreds of years, the Mass of which you have “no desire to celebrate”, is the superior to the inferior Novus Ordo Mass, of which I consider valid, but lacking.

I came back to the Church, the Novus Ordo Church, and left it because I am a child of Vatican II. From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening at Mass,it has been the Mass of Pope Paul VI. I had been formed in it. I have studied it. (What there is worthwhile to study, which isn’t much) I avoid it at all costs.

When the Catholic Priests get their act together, the world will get their act together. The luvy duvy world of Novus Ordo religious politics has no place in a cruel and dangerous world. Supposedly smart men deceive themselves to our detriment. Novelty be damned!

Dear Bishop Coyne,
It saddens me that even bishops can be so ignorant of Holy Mother Church’s liturgical tradition. Our sacred Latin Roman Rite (now called extraordinary) is something that is received from “Apostolic Tradition” very much like dogma, ever more beautiful, ever more the same! And not subject to be replaced by a “banal on the spot product”(Cardinal Ratzinger’s words).
Father X has every ‘Right’ to his Rite as Pope Paul VI has to his Rite, which is ‘no Right’ at all…according to Cardinal Ratzinger in his book ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy’ he states: “The Pope’s authority is bound to the tradition of the faith, and that also applies to the liturgy. It is not manufactured by the authorities.” The problem is not the abuses of the Norvus Ordo; the problem is the Norvus Ordo!!

I only go to the Traditional Latin Mass now. We used to go to the Paul IV Mass but it was making us lose our faith (as if the modern church has much). For example, at CCD class they taught that all the bible stories are fables made up to help stupid people believe, and that they really aren’t true at all. Adam & Eve, Noah, etc. never happened. My parents called the parish Priest and he said that is what the church is teaching now. My friend moved in with his girlfriend since his Priest recommended that they do so before they get married so they could get to “know” each other. I asked the Priest if he really told them that and he said that is what the Church teaches now. I could go on and on. What a joke the Church is now, and the Bishops and even the Pope don’t do their jobs to clean it up. They just prance around instead of passing on the Faith. One day they will pay for eternity. Only go to the Paul IV Mass if you want to lose your Faith. Look at the fruits of the Paul IV Mass: Most Catholics don’t believe in the true presence, practice birth control like animals, and have more abortions then the public. If this isn’t the prophesized great falling away, then I don’t know what could be.

Lynn – After reading your comments about entertaining kids during Mass it brought up an incident that happened to my wife and I. Went to Sunday Mass, got there early. Just as Mass started the ‘family from hell’, mom and dad and 7 kids, arrived in the pew in front of us (the pews are really upholstered chairs with kneelers). During Mass the kids acted up, tore up all the contribution envelopes in holders and threw them on the floor and seats, mom had her feet on the upholstery of the chair in front of her, mom gave her pink nail polish to the 7 year old who used the seat bottom to rest his hands on as he played with the polish thus getting the polish on the upholstery, and on and on. My wife and I had no way to discreetly get up from our seats and move to another section of church, so we suffered. At the end of Mass I reached over the seat backs, picked up the torn paper that I could reach and put the pieces into the family’s empty baby carrier thus earning a DIRTY look from an older daughter. I went to a parish paycheck receiving staffer and pointed out this ‘family from hell’, showed her the nail polish on the seat and asked her if she knew them. She did. The staffer got permission from the pastor to talk to the family. The incident was brought up to the mom and she denied that any of this had happened! The pastor angrily brought up this family to me some time later and accused me of causing them to leave the parish because I brought up their destructive behavior. The pastor said to me “do you know they tithed?”. By the way the father of the ‘family from hell’ was the parish council president!

Because my wife and I had such a bad Mass, we decided to go to the 5pm Mass to make up for what occurred in the morning. So here we are at 5pm Mass with a teenage boy in front of us feeding her baby brother Cheerios. During most of Mass Cheerios were coming through the cracks of the seats falling on our shoes! Better yet, at the end of Mass many Cheerios were also on the floor surrounding this teenager. What did he do before leaving church? He took his foot and ground all these Cheerios into the carpet!

Julio…for me it is the Traditional Latin Mass where people were close and the priest offered the mass to Christ…as we all did. The kneeling down at the altar was special because I knelt before Christ to receive HIM. The choir sang songs and not beat a drum or played a guitar we sang with reverence. We entered the church with respect and left the church with respect…we didn’t enter and hug and kiss and shake hands and talk while others tried to pray. We dressed with respect and not wear T-shirts with skull and cross-bows on them or wear skirts so high everybody can see everything. We didn’t come to church with our hair still wet from a shower (like my neighbor does every Sunday) We shined our shoes so they were clean not tennis shoes that were dirty. We trained our children to sit in the pews and listen not to eat fruit loops or Cheerios or play with Barbies or leggos because they didn’t want to listen. We didn’t laugh at homilies. We respected the Priest and everybody in the church. We bowed our heads when the Eucharist is raised.

We cared for Christ…we cared for the church…we cared for the Priest. At Christmas Eve 3 priests had the mass…it was special…it was reverence.

When the collection basket was passed we gave what we could…we didn’t put in money and take out change (and yes I have seen that).

We didn’t read the bulletin during mass…we read it at home.

The altar servers had their plates put under our chins in case the Eucharist fell.

We took the Eucharist by the tongue not by the hands.

We didn’t take the Eucharist and dip it in the wine and then put it in our mouths. We didn’t even taste the wine.

That mass was sacred not a carnival. Not where kids look around and laugh, or wave at people they know (that was done outside of the church). We didn’t walk around the church like it was open house or a yard sale…we came in and genuflected not do a head bounce and go into the pew.

If you were disabled or just couldn’t genuflected you went at least half way down or tried… but you just didn’t go into the pew with giving reverence to Christ.

The Priest NEVER said “Okay lets sing all the verses to the song…because it seems like all of you are tired and I am going to make you work for the Eucharist” (Yes I have seen and heard this)

So which is best…going to mass and have a nervous disorder or go to church and have Christ in my heart…I go with reverence..I wear a veil…I genuflect I pray from my prayer book before mass, I say the prayers and sing the songs…I give my heart…my soul…to Christ.

I am no saint…but the mass of today has no meaning at all…I can accept change…ONLY if it was for the good…but Vatican II was not for the good and it is sad that after all these years…and all of the stories… and all of the heart ache…no one has changed it back…or stood up and told the people this is what the church is…we are bringing back the reverence…the quietness…the prayers…we are bringing back the REAL MASS.

The canonical institute of ecclesia supplet is indeed for the good of the faithful. However, we must be clear of what the Church is supplying in these cases and what cannot be supplied. See canon 144 in the 1983 Code. The Church supplies executive power of governance to make good an act placed within the Church which we otherwise be invalid due to the lack of said power. It is a common misunderstanding that the Church can and does ‘supply’ what is lacking in defects to sacramental form. This is simply not the case. The Church does not because she cannot bring about the reality of sacraments which do not exist due to a serious defect in matter or form. Let us take care lest we too hastily apply the institute of ecclesia supplet to situations where it simply does not hold. We need to be sober enough to admit that sometimes priests do (or don’t do) things which are harmful to the good of the faithful. Changing the words of the institution narrative is certainly one of them.

1. One Easter Mass after communion our priest look out at us and said “I just love Easter that is when all the women wear short skirts and they show everything…..and I love to look!
2. The same priest called a young boy back to him after he received communion and turned the boy around and said “now what do you say “BEFORE” receiving the Eucharist? The boy was so scared and the priest yelled…you same “AMEN”
3. We had a visiting priest once and after mass I went up to the priest to welcome him to our parish…I was an usher at the time. The priest was so pleased that I welcomed him….Our Parish Priest came in the door and said “well you please quit flirting with him….he is only a visiting priest and he will be gone sooner then we all know.” I told him I was not flirting!
4. The Altar servers were laughing and saw a piece of paper and was throwing in to each other behind the priest’s back while communion….when the priest was told, he said he did not see it.
5. When I was an usher there was an elderly woman who could barely walk (her son came in and helped her to the pew) she said she didn’t want communion. At communion time she decided she wanted to go up. I walked her up and she was about 15 pews back from the priest…the priest waited and waited and showing his disgust. After I got her up and back people were smiling at me, like they showed that I did the right thing. After mass the priest yelled at me “you will NEVER make me wait for anyone to come to communion….you were WRONG to usher up that woman and make me wait.
I told the priest that she decided to come up and I will NEVER deprive anyone to Jesus. The priest told me NOT to be an usher anymore.
6. 2 days before Christmas we were decorating the church, many people showed up after awhile the priest came in and said “Hurry up I don’t have time for this foolishness….”
7. At one time we had nuns at our parish and I asked them if they said the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the hours and the nun laughed and said NO!
8. Two boys ages 10 and 11 (I asked them after mass) brought their Marvel comic books and were looking at them…when they got bored they opened up their Harry Potter book….this was not the place for that. I spoke to the parents after mass and they said “They are bored….so be happy they came”
9. A mother brought her 3 teenage children. 2 boys and 1 girl. The girl was sitting in the middle of the boys. They were laughing and texting. One even decided to pop a pimp on the boys face. I am sitting behind them. I couldn’t take it anymore and whispered in the ear of the mother and she said…They are bored and that is what teenagers do.

When I went to church when I was young (I am 62) there wasn’t any playing in the pews, no reading comic books or any other book except my prayer book. I never brought my Barbie dolls and clothes to play on the pews. My parents did not bring cheerios for me to play with or eat.

I have not found respect in the Catholic church that I go to. There are only 2 Catholic churches in my town the other one is the same. It is difficult to go to mass and see and hear so many terrible stories.

I still believe ‘respect’ has to be taught at home…if the parents don’t teach it then the children don’t care…..church is ‘respect for Christ’ ‘love for Christ’

It is very sad….so sad to see how the mass is more like a circus of children not respecting anything, and parents looking the other way.

I love the Mass of Pope Paul VI- It is beautiful-the words are so holy. We do not need a new translation, only dedicated priests who follow the teachings of the Catholic Church. Where are all the Bishops- are they on the job? Where is the respect for the Liturgy? My guess is that if some priests don’t follow the teachings of the church now, they won’t later when the new translation comes out. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is greatly abused -some priests do not use the correct formula and do not give absolution as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.- they call it”being pastoral” We have a right to be able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to be able to attend a valid Eucharistic Liturgy that is also licit. What is the solution?
Pray and fast for priests.According to Redemptionus Sacramentum, we have the right to charitably(and duty) bring up the errors especially concerning the Sacrament of Reconciliation to the priest. If he doesn’t accept what you have to say, go on to the next level.Do not let it go on.Study the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read documents. If you are a teacher, teach the truth.Support institutions that teach the truth. Guard the faith.

Wasted my time reading of these abuses……………God will not be mocked; the judgement is His. We all need to pray as Our Lord taught us, constantly in all we do…. and a time set aside to be silent and listen to Him.

I went through an experience at another parish in a tourist trap town. The priest had all the kids and some adults go down the aisle and everyone raised their hands (like Nazis) and supposedly blessed the children. Weird. The priest acted the whole time like he was entertaining. Near the end, he asked “how are we doing?”. This whole experience rubbed me the wrong way and I now dread attending Mass in other parishes because of the negativity I will feel if something “weird” or God forbid “New Age” happens at Mass. The Mass should be the same everywhere. I blame the bishops on this. If anybody reading is a priest, would it be a sin to walk out on a Mass that was obviously invalid – saying women reading the Gospel or some other New Age thing?

I wish the Church would replace the new rite of Mass with the Traditional one, i.e., the Tridentine one. Maybe, if Our Lord answers “yes” to my prayer, Pope Benedict XVI will reject his longterm goal, a hybrid rite of Mass. He says the Summorum Pontificum began a new Liturgical Movement. Well,I think think there’s only one correct direction to move in: reverse.

This Sunday morning a guest priest celebrated Mass and the pastor co-celebrated. The Gospel reading was about the woman whose daughter was demonized and Jesus ignored her pleas until she persisted saying even the dogs eat the scraps from the master’s table and Jesus then cured her daughter. In the homily the guest said that there were 3 thoughts on the meaning of the Gospel. #1. This was somebody’s made up version or never happened. #2. Jesus was having a bad day (and people laughed). Why make a joke at the expense of the all knowing Son of God? #3. Jesus used this example to illustrate the woman’s great faith because she persisted. This was a kick-off-the-school-year Mass, and right before the final blessing the guest celebrant had all the school children come to the sanctuary and surround the altar. The guest and the pastor stood out in the center pew area and the guest celebrant asked all the lay people to raise their hands and extend their blessing to these children. After this and 2 other distractions added in, the final blessing was given to end Mass. Lay people are not ordained and thus not able to bless anyone like an ordained minister.

Why do we still have Holy Days? This year it is next year it’s not? We have so many confused Catholic today because of our liberal church. Nothing means much anymore. You can not eat meat on Friday or it is a Mortal Sin LOL. What are you to believe. Confession very important until we introduced Saturday Mass of convenience. Now that Sacrament is replaced by Saturday night Mass. I am a old confused Catholic I guess.

I could only bear to read a dozen or so of these comments because it breaks my heart. Why is the Catholic Church turning a blind eye to these liturgical abuses? I no longer attend mass. I kept having nightmares that the abuses would begin and I would stand up and start yelling. I say the rosary everyday for the restoration of the true Catholic church. I attended the Latin mass until the priest said that individuals that wanted the latin mass could request it but Rome stated that they had to acknowledge that the Novus Ordo mass was valid. Sorry no can do. Who was Paul VI to change the mass of all time????

I was a cradle Catholic born while the Tridentine Mass was THE Mass, The New Order came in when I was about ten years old. When I turned eighteen, I wandered away from the Church for several years; I came back when my husband converted.

We have lived in and visited many different states and cities, and have seen the New Order Mass celebrated with great reverence. Unfortunately, we have also seen it celebrated with such a casual attitude, with New Age affectations, and with such disregard for liturgical law that we were left in tears. When we returned to the city where our families were settled, the parish we moved into had a very lax attitude toward the Mass, with the pastor acting as more of a comedy performer than priest. We volunteered in the CCD and lector programs, but it was clear that the pastor and parish were slipping more and more into making the Mass a New Age-y, good time gathering.

With the help of a deacon who was also distressed and unable to make headway into restoring reverence, (our then-Archbishop encouraged liturgical silliness,) we found a Roman Catholic parish that had been founded by an Episcopal priest who had converted and been ordained a Catholic priest. He created a liturgy based on the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, modified to meet Roman Catholic liturgical requirements. This beautiful, reverent liturgy was approved by John Paul II himself. It is called the Anglican Use Liturgy, it exists in both English and Latin, and is in use in parishes founded by former Episcopalians, around the US.

My husband and I have been members of this parish for many years now. We know that the New Order Masses celebrated in other parishes are valid Masses, but we feel a lack when travel or other circumstances require us to attend one. If you live in a diocese where liturgical creativity and foolishness are tolerated and even encouraged, seek out an Anglican Use parish in your area. It will be a blessing to you.

Dear Bishop Coyne,
yes it is very sad how the mass is being implemented today in most parishes. However there are some very orthodox parishes as well that have the mass and sacraments that follow the correct formula as laid down from Paul VI. I do agree that the smoke of Satan has entered the Church as someone in this post said. That is probably why there is so much confusion in the Church today. I go to both the Traditional Mass and a very reverent form of the Norvus Ordo mass. I believe we have to safeguard our children’s souls as well as our own from this modernistic mahem that is occuring. Even the Holy Father has mentioned that one of the greatest problems we have had is the liturgy and the Catechism and how we have to go back to traditions hence his efforts with the motto propio to bring back some sense of order to the liturgy.

I have also notice that in some of the Traditional circles that there is a lack of charity. When we constantly focus on the negative(priest/liturgy bashing as well as back biting) it creates an oppressive atmosphere. Ihave also noticed some weird percpetions from some of the Traditional circles as well as some of the Traditional laity actually say that it is okay for men to abuse their wives. My point is that we have to have a balance. A mass that has reverence and traditions and yet a culture that promotes love and respect as well within the Roman Catholic Church Community.I like the fact that one could go anywhere in the world to a Catholic Church pick up your latin missal and know exactly where one is in the mass etc. There have been way too many abuses with the Norvus Ordo even when Rome has written encyclicals on the matter. We need to pray hard for our Church and its priests and bishops. This is a spiritual war going on. St Michael the Archangel pray for us!

“…people ask my why some in the Church have a desire for the “extraordinary rite,”the traditional Latin Mass…”

The most important reason, Your Excellency, is that the Novus Ordo was created by a man twice dismissed under suspicion of Freemasonry, and 6 Protestant advisers. Not to mention another important reason: these same people stripped the traditional Mass of everything that would be a “stumbling block” to Protestants- i.e., the Novus Ordo is an instrument of political correctness. Therefore, it is an offense to Our Lord in its desire to avoid offense to heretics. It is a lie and an absurdity and a travesty and an abomination. It has destroyed the faith, just as Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci warned, because it does not teach and enact the faith. It teaches and enacts Protestantism.

What a tragedy that you love this curse, and have so lost sight of your own patrimony that you have no desire to celebrate the real Mass. Perhaps you should go back and read “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,” by Fr. Muller.

I agree with Michelle, the FSSP has a wonderful, spiritual Latin mass that feeds your soul with solemnity. Oftentimes small and humble parishes, but Our Lord chose to be born in a stable!

As for Lewis and the modesty issue I used to go to a SSPX chapel where the ushers were uncharitable fault finders and frightened away many a good soul because of women wearing pants or a man with an open polo shirt. I do agree however that those wearing exposed bosoms, spandex and the like need a talking to. But Christ welcomed in Mary Magdalen and we too should let the priest run the show. You sound a bit harsh and judgmental Lewis.

My mother says “in her day people simply dressed nice and in a dress for church.” She doesn’t understand all the people today. When morals lack, a lot lacks in society. Priests should teach from the pulpit modesty and as our priests says, someone may come dressed immodest once or twice, but in charity and looking to the good example of others in the church, those people will start dressing appropriately without any harsh segregation and name calling.

Redemptionis Sacramentum was put together by Cardinal Arinze under mandate of Pope JP II in March 2004. Here are several sections which will answer some of the comments and concerns I have read above.

48. The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.123 It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.124 It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist. Hosts should obviously be made by those who are not only distinguished by their integrity, but also skilled in making them and furnished with suitable tools.125

50. The wine that is used in the most sacred celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances.127 During the celebration itself, a small quantity of water is to be mixed with it. Great care should be taken so that the wine intended for the celebration of the Eucharist is well conserved and has not soured.128 It is altogether forbidden to use wine of doubtful authenticity or provenance, for the Church requires certainty regarding the conditions necessary for the validity of the Sacraments. Nor are other drinks of any kind to be admitted for any reason, as they do not constitute valid matter. (NOTE ABOVE THE CONCERN FOR THE VALIDITY OF THE SACRAMENTS. IF THE MATTER MUST BE CORRECT THEN IT MUST ALSO FOLLOW THAT THE FORM, THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION, MUST ALSO BE CORRECT!)

51. Only those Eucharistic Prayers are to be used which are found in the Roman Missal or are legitimately approved by the Apostolic See, and according to the manner and the terms set forth by it. “It is not to be tolerated that some Priests take upon themselves the right to compose their own Eucharistic Prayers”129 or to change the same texts approved by the Church, or to introduce others composed by private individuals.130

52. The proclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer, which by its very nature is the climax of the whole celebration, is proper to the Priest by virtue of his Ordination. It is therefore an abuse to proffer it in such a way that some parts of the Eucharistic Prayer are recited by a Deacon, a lay minister, or by an individual member of the faithful, or by all members of the faithful together. The Eucharistic Prayer, then, is to be recited by the Priest alone in full.131

55. In some places there has existed an abuse by which the Priest breaks the host at the time of the consecration in the Holy Mass. This abuse is contrary to the tradition of the Church. It is reprobated and is to be corrected with haste.

59. The reprobated practice by which Priests, Deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease.For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy.

63. Within the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, the reading of the Gospel, which is “the high point of the Liturgy of the Word,”139 is reserved by the Church’s tradition to an ordained minister.140 Thus it is not permitted for a layperson, even a religious, to proclaim the Gospel reading in the celebration of Holy Mass, nor in other cases in which the norms do not explicitly permit it.141

107. In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, “one who throws away the consecrated species or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state.”194 To be regarded as pertaining to this case is any action that is voluntarily and gravely disrespectful of the sacred species. Anyone, therefore, who acts contrary to these norms, for example casting the sacred species into the sacrarium or in an unworthy place or on the ground, incurs the penalties laid down.195 Furthermore all will remember that once the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass has been completed, the prescriptions of the Roman Missal are to be observed, and in particular, whatever may remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist.196

People have to speak up and demand some kind of return to tradition. Sitting in the pews and allowing a new pastor to dismantle an altar, take away a crucifix, or abolish a parish’s one Latin Mass, is a complicit crime. Show your anger. Contact the bishop, do something, save the Church. I, for one, am considering converting to Orthodoxy because the Catholic Church has really fallen into apostasy.

You wrote: “But isn’t it a shame that I couldn’t go to Confession?” Well, the fact is, Your Excellency, you actually could have, but you copped out. If you had a genuine incentive to straighten matters out your reaction was the wrong option.

You also said that you were “there as a visitor not as his bishop or vicar general.” We can all say something like that! So, by your rationale when we observe something wrong we should remain mute. No again.

Toleration is an attribute that becomes trivialized and even mocked when subjected to abuse. When Jesus confronted the moneychangers He did not approach them and say:

“Gentlemen, in a spirit of brotherly love, let us all sit down together and discuss this issue of changing money in the temple. I am sure we can come to an equitable solution.”

Rather, He demonstrated moral discernment and moral leadership and the fact that there are issues for which compromise and appeasement are the wrong options.

Thank you Bishop Coyne for your article. I am 62 years old and a cradle Catholic. I remember walking into church with reverence and silence. The altar servers were boys who knew what they were doing and never joked around. The music was spiritual. I loved the ‘old’ mass.

My father who is 90 years old still tells me stories when he was an altar boy. He told me that if a host fell on the floor the altar boys would surround it and a nun would come out and pick it up with a white cloth, the priest would bless it and HE would take it in his mouth. It was a sacred to handle the host.

I loved altar railings because it brought people together as one and we knelt and waited for Christ to come into our mouth.

We would go to church when we were on vacation (2 weeks out of the year) mom always remembered to pack a dress for me and for her. Nice dress pants and a shirt and tie for my brother and father. We dressed for mass.

Now a days I have seen the same thing you have seen in the mass that you described. Teenagers wearing T-shirts with skull and cross bones on it. Or a name of a rock group. Girls wearing such short dresses that when they sit down they put their purses on their laps or their hands on their laps because ‘everything’ would show.

Priests now a days always tells a joke during the homily. Not in my day…a homily had meaning that when I went home afterwards I ‘remembered’ and try to live the way the priest said to live.

Confession use to be in little rooms, never face to face. Now the confessional is in the crying room where it has a huge window and everybody can see everybody making their confessions.

I remember taking my prayer books to mass and praying before and afterwards. Now it is like a social hour before mass, everybody laughing and hugging and shaking hands and telling about their week. Afterwards is the same thing even during Lent. Even when the priest tells us NOT to talk after mass during Lent people never listen. I use to be an usher and I would tell the people to ‘take it outside and talk’ but they would look at me and just laugh.

There is no respect in the Catholic church anymore, no reverence. Teenagers believe it is a time to check their ‘twitter’ or ‘facebook’ account or e-mail. Parents just look at them and smile. I have seen men putting their arms around their girlfriends or wives and giving them a kiss, or the wife would put their head on the shoulder and cuddle up.

Yes I have spoken to the priest and his answer “as long as they come to church”

That is a lame excuse of “I cannot do anything about it”

Mass is not a social hour, a carnival, or a get together. During the ‘peace’ a man would walk up and down the aisle to everybody and shake hands….because he was a politician.

Bring back the old mass, the Latin mass, the reverence,the prayers but mostly bring back THE MEANING OF MASS.

I find myself in complete agreement with the Reverend Bishop and yet disagreeing with him at the same time.

His article begs the question: if there were no Saturday Masses why could he not have provided one himself? And why was he, a successor of the apostles, sitting in the pews rather than offering the Mass Himself with his cooperator the priest concelebrating. This is what the Church asks of him after all, he too was in violation of the rubrics by not presiding or at least sitting in choir.

It would be a good thing if the Bishops had to sit through what the laity have to sit through on a weekly basis. I know if I were a bishop I would DEFINITELY do covert spot checks on the way my priests were celebrating Mass, but that’s not what he was doing. And while I agree with his frustration and appraisal of the situation–he too was contributing to the problem, and probably from the sounds of things did nothing to correct it failing in the Episcopal Vocation. Hopefully he at least sent this guys ordinary a note.

I was so happy that a Bishop finally presented a real picture of just what we layity have had to suffer in our post Vatican II church. A priest is supposed to obey the rubrics and not be creative. Rubrics are the words, jestures and intent that the missal specifies for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and priests may not change them. The Mass is NOT the community meal! The mass is not a play thing a priest can toy with yet most do. But so many modernist priests have and their modernist bishops are delighted that they do. We have not only been abandoned by our shepherds but also savaged by them. Try to find a good priest and a valid sacrement these past 45 years. I have NEVER heard a homily on abortion, birth control, homosexuality, the primacy of the pope, Fatima and on, and on, and on. I wonder if this terired bishop knows that more than likely, his own diocese was doing the same think and it is only now that he sees it.

This is a replay especially to the second letter. Part of the problem–Maybe most of the problem– is “conservatives” without standards, who thus can’t distinguish between what is below trivial and totally irrelevant and what is important.

I in fact attend an Orthodox church because there is no RC church within many miles, maybe within hundreds of miles, that is different from the mess the bishop described.

If the priest and congregation actually believe in the real presence, they will be reverent. The priest will use the words of the Roman
Rite and not make up his own words. There will be no “extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist” which are not needed 99% of the time. The priest will spend a lot of time preparing a sermon. If he is too busy, then he will read a sermon from an authorized source. Perhaps from one of the fathers of the church–if he can find a version in modern 21st Century English.

But what folk wear is totally trivial and irrelevant. There simply is nothing wrong with wearing shorts to mass. If the guy’s bare legs put you in a state of frenzied lust, say a prayer to learn chastity (and charity toward others).

The problem is that when folk complain about silly nonsense, then listeners will suppose that everything they talk about is silly nonsense. So what is important (i.e., a sermon with sound doctrine, and a reverent attitude by all attending) will be ignored.

Without expanding on the subject, the same goes for goes for folks who are “politically correct” or who pretend to be offfended by “dirty words.” Their attitude shows that they simply do not take anything seriously but are consumed by meaningless nonsense. No one one has ever been harmed or ever will be harmed in any way by any words said by a stranger.

To make an analogy– If you want to impress an audience of serious scholars, do not begin your address with half an hour of inane jokes.

When a Mass is imbued with the ethos of optionality and the priest as the “presider”, then it is not a far stretch for someone to extend the logic into what you experienced. I am glad you understand why we desire the traditional Mass, but the demand for the traditional Mass is founder more of its historical connection with St. Peter. I assume you know, your excellency, since you state that your studied the Mass of Paul VI, that it is a “mash-up” Mass which was a significant rupture with the traditional Mass. Time to come back to our spiritual home.

I do not attend the Novus Ordo unless I really have to…a funeral, wedding, something like that. It is a disgusting thing because of the abuses and it deeply, deeply disturbs my soul. It’s so dark and depressing. We have the usual mix of beautiful and ugly church buildings in our archdiocese, of course. The closest one to me is very beautiful to look at, but the Mass is a mess. Thirty minutes away exists a tiny church run by the FSSP. So, I could go to a beautiful castle and receive an ignorant hot dog bbq complete w/hoe-down music…which is an ugly way to honor the King of Kings, or I could travel to a humble cottage and receive a feast from the King himself. I’m going to the cottage!!

For those replying here that say that we should let God do the judging, you are dead wrong. The Catholic Church should have a strict dress code for all who enter a Catholic Church, much less receive Holy Communion. If one can dress to the nines to go clubbing, to a wedding or even to the office, surely one can dress appropriately when placing themselves in the presence of our Holy Savior divinely present in the Holy Eucharist. This means for men, no shorts or tee shirts, no sports attire including jogging suits. For women, skirts and dresses to the knee, no exposed cleavage, midriffs, under ware, no bare backs or upper arms. The ushers should screen these immodest blasphemers out. If some slip through, the attending Priest should deny them Holy Communion. No exceptions. Period. Those who do otherwise, including priests, do so in grave error that will not go unpunished by the Almighty.

“REVERSE TRANSUBSTANTIATION”-Fact or fiction??, A pre Vatican convert and still in the church after 4 of my 7 children were severly abused-two by a vicious, sadistic nun, one by an abusive priest, and now, one a traditional priest-abused by liberal and very secular ranking religious.

I have been delving into Cannon law some and as a practicing Catholic have the right, through proper channels and with respect, to note and to challenge certain obvious flagrant handling of Sacraments in our faith.

I was an extraordinary minister and the non-purified vessels were transferred from the Alter to the Credence table and then taken to the room for the persons distributing the communion to wash the vessels and dump the contents from the nonpurified vessels down the sewer.I nearly got into an actual combat when I confronted the washer when I explained what he was doing. I met our pastor when he returned into the church after greeting the parishioners leaving and mentioned to him that I felt what they were doing was sacriligious and not in compliance with Cannon Law. My pastor blew up and I explained to him that Cannon law states that the vessels must be purified by a priest, Deacon or vested minister for proper respect to be had. He called me that night and apologized and immediately changed the policy. I have the greatest respect for him for that. I know that priests and nuns are human like me and can get caught up in the administrative duties and besides, many have poor training. I am a professional person and needed to follow certain protcol to be within civil law. A priest is considered an APOSTLE OF CHRIST and has the obligation to follow that title. Our Blessed Mother says to pray for the priests, which I certainly do and still have the legal and Cannon law right to stand up for Christ in the Sacraments.

I was escorted out of one local church by a priest when I explained to him what was happening in the sacristy & he was offended. However I worked with this priest before and he very explicitly explained to me that he believes in “NO TRADITIONS” of the Catholic Church. I simply reminded him on the way out, to read Cannon Law about the handling of the Eucharist. I called our Judicial Vicar and asked him about REVERSE TRANSUBSTANTIATION and told him that if it doesn’t exist, or occur when the unpurified vessels leave the altar, then some serious abuses of the consecrated wine and bread occur. He reported to the Bishop, who conveniently turned his back on the matter. Canon law also states that it is the obligation of the Bishop to correct such matters. I did all that I could. there is a form and matter that makes a SACRAMENT JUST THAT.
I will never leave the Catholic church because I love the sacraments and their love is embedded in my soul.
I truly believe, the way things are happening all over the world that Christ will step in soon and HE will feel that–Enough is enough.

Hi, I thought that this article was excellent as I often fall into the trap of the “emotional” when attending a mass out of my diocese.

From my recent experience sometimes it’s the local congregation who have taken over the mass and over whelmed the Priest. I think I saw this recently when pretty much most of the mass had been taken away from the Priest the singing part of the mass had been taken over and we were all supposed to be in awe of the woman who was controlling the singing who’s singing tone was well out of the reach of the average human beings singing range at the front of the church. There were eccumental ministers at communion who were distributing Christ’s body like a sweet.

I don’t know if this helps anyone but when in these types of situations always take communion from the Priest even if it means changing queue, this is our opportunity to show that we stand by Jesus, Also receive communion on your knees and kneel even though there aren’t any kneelers. We should always follow the practices that we have in our own church and never adjust to the “Happy” “Happy” mentality that has replaced “Joy” in a great number of our churches when visiting them.

On the occasion that myself and my wife attended and received communion the Priest was so gentle with the body of christ and the host turned red for both of us. I don’t know what the host turning red means but I have a feeling it was a good thing. After communion pray that the Priest regains his strength in faith to defeat the forces that have entered our churches.

Prayingforyou: Not to be a nun basher, I know there are some good ones hiding out there somewhere, but here is a little story to add to your experience. A friend, a widower over 70, died recently. Because he had a disagreement with his pastor over not getting permission from this priest to be allowed to remarry in the Church, he spent the last 2 years of his life going to a brand X protestant place. When he was in hospice and his children were talking to the nun assigned to the place about their unhappiness with this pastor who wouldn’t allow dad to remarry in the Church, this nun told them that this priest was conservative and that their dad could have gone to many other parishes where he could have been married in the Church. The children asked the nun about a priest coming to the hospice to administer the last rights. The nun told them “you don’t need a priest, you can do it yourselves”. So the family said some prayers at the bedside and no priest was summoned. This nun needs prayers and some straightening out!

Not impressed. The Bishop “loves the Novus Ordo”? Really? Novus Boredo is more like it. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to see this poor Bishop write an article in about 20 years asking why Novus Ordo disappeared and only the real Mass is to be found. These Bishops just don’t get it. It’s not just because the Novus Ordo is “full of abuses.” In itself the Mass of Paulo Sesto il Mesto is a Modernist (or at best, Protestant) invention designed by the enemies of the Church to destroy the Church. After all, that was Luther’s main strategy: “Get rid of the Mass, get rid of the Church.”

Cate: The breaking of the host is indeed a liturgical abuse that is to be corrected immediately according to Redemptionis Sacramentum. By the way Redemptionis can be found ONLINE and would be good ammo for anyone confronted with an abusive priest.

Gina and John: I wouldn’t even begin to respond to you since I know it would do NO good!

Maria: Talk to the priest about abuses? Been there, done that, it doesn’t work. The only thing I think these priests may respond to is an empty collection plate, but that would take a coordinated effort by many people! That won’t happen either since most are ignorant of abuses, don’t care, like a fun Mass anyway and certainly don’t want to be confrontational.

Prayingforyou: Yes, most of what you relate was an abuse. These are also covered in Redemptionis.

Here are a few more abuses I have witnessed that may stand some hairs on end – At a full Easter Mass the hosts were running out at communion time, an EM could be seen going to the sacristy and returned with a plastic shrink-wrapped package of hosts, poured them in a couple ciboria and continued to distribute (THESE HOSTS WERE NOT CONSECRATED!). A deacon at communion time was using his hands to shove consecrated hosts from the large bowl into the ciboria, he took the empty bowl to the credence table and could be seen flicking his fingers as he returned to the altar (HELLO DEACON, BUT THOSE ARE PIECES OF JESUS YOU ARE FLICKING ONTO THE FLOOR!). After the distribution of communion ended consecrated wine still in a cup/chalice was accidentally spilled on the altar cloth, an EM (who shouldn’t have even been at the altar) could be seen angrily whisking with her hand the spilled wine off of the altar cloth (DROPS OF JESUS’ BLOOD WENT ALL OVER THE FLOOR!). A pastor, in order to make a theatrical point during the sermon, had a ciboria filled with confetti, he threw the confetti around in the sanctuary to great laughter to emphasize some point he was making (THIS IS A PROFANATION OF A SACRED OBJECT WHICH CARRIES A CANONICAL PENALTY!). The leader of the ‘band’ at the main Sunday Mass would frequently strut around in front of the pews next to the sanctuary playing her bass guitar like any good rock star would! This band also has 2 people who sat on tall stools in the front who signed the Mass for anyone who was deaf (NEVER FIGURED OUT WHO THOSE DEAF PEOPLE WERE BUT THESE 2 PEOPLE FLAYING AROUND THEIR HANDS THE WHOLE MASS WAS SURE DISTRACTING!). At a communal Christmas penance service the pastor had everyone write their sins down on a piece of paper, a fire was started in a burning pot placed in the sanctuary and everyone tossed their paper-sins into the fire and, BAMMO, your sins were forgiven! I won’t even begin to recall some of the total garbage and non-Catholic sermons I have endured!

Hasn’t post Vatican II been fun? And YES, we left all 3 of these parishes in search of a reverent and correct parish with a properly formed priest.

When in doubt about a priest or his teaching, ask him this question: Father, can you please tell me is Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God and Savior of all Mankind? If he says Yes, then ask him would he please say the words for you.

God has promised “no man can say Jesus is Lord and not be in the spirit”.

The last priest my son asked that question screamed at him and said some very un-priestly things. Within a week satan removed him to another location. Satan does not want his servants to be known. This question will reveal if the priest is a follower of Christ or Satan. If the priest cannot say Jesus is Lord, then report him to the Bishop. Let the Bishop handle the problem, but the let Bishop know, you expect this problem to be investigated and resolved.

As members of the faith we have a right to expect our priests to follow the church or leave the ministry. God told us there would be wolves in sheep clothing. They are to be removed or rehabilitated. May God have mercy on them, but keep them far away from us.

Hey, I am not a Catholic but a member of an Anglican Community as a Recovery Christian pastor. So no one here can accuse me of being a Catholic Pharisee. But at OUR church we celebrate the Liturgy with reverence, acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ at Consecration, receive Communion with faith and spent five minutes or more thanking God for the Sacrament and asking God to speak words of comfort and correction to each one of us.

Now I know most people here believe that as a woman and a non-Catholic ministries our liturgies are not valid and the Real Presence isn’t here on our altars. But let me say this, if a bunch of Anglican Communion people can act with silence and reverence towards the Sacramental Presence, then WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE?????

I wish something could be done about female Eucharistic ministers dressing in immodest clothing. I received Holy Communion from a young female Eucharistic minister in a very low cut dress. It was so uncomfortable even though I’m female. It caused me to sin in my mind as I was receiving. I wrote a letter to the priest but nothing was done because she wore the same dress again. This time I saw her before Mass and sat in a different area. I’ve had an open mind about Eucharistic ministers since I’m obedient to the Church but I’ve decided I’m only going to receive from the priest or a deacon. My dad left the church because he didn’t like the idea of ordinary people handling the Eucharist. My parish is not one of those liberal parishes and there are no abuses with the actual Mass, just some of the female Eucharistic ministers wearing low cut and tight clothing. I’ve thought about writing the bishop but feel it might be a waste of time.

‘There is a theological practice of the Church called “Ecclesia supplet”(“the Church provides”)…. I think the intention of those us who came to Mass was to celebrate the Eucharist as the Church intends and so it was.’

The class may intend to learn physics but if the teacher doesn’t teach it, it won’t. And if the last person learned in physics fails to pass on that learning, the next generation will not even be able to form the intent to learn it.

The same applies to the Church’s doctrine and liturgy. We are fast approaching Year Zero of the post-Christian era. There still exists an older generation that received instruction in the Faith in accordance with common sense principles of learning. As long as that generation is content to attend Masses valid in their minds only, for the sake of their own educated souls, there is little hope for the younger congregants. You need to teach by example and boycott persistently bad practice.

The Bishop says he didn’t mention using the correct absolution formula to the priest for fear of “opening that can of worms”. So the Bishop refuses to have this priest hear his confession for fear of invalidity, yet he will let the faithful receive invalid absolutions from this priest!? So doubtful validity is good enough for the faithful but not for the Bishop?

The Novus Ordo DOES NOT HAVE THE PRAYERS AT THE FOOT OF THE ALTAR! That alone lends the Novus Ordo to abuse. Hardly anyone even bows, including the celebrant, during the Credo, There is no longer the “Last Gospel” that reminds us of who we are. Thank God at least one Bishop has ordered the restoration of the “Prayer to St. Michael”, the prayer that St. Padre Pio said that “now that the exorcism prayer, the prayer to St. Michael, will no longer be said at every Mass, the Devil will run wild on the earth and I am glad I will not be around to see it”.

Dear Bishop: On August 7, 2011, I just attended a Mass in Grand Rapids at the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse celebrating the Jubilees of some of their nuns with over 300 people present. Was it even a valid Mass if a nun read the Gospel and gave the homily, the sign of the cross was changed (something about the creator), the final blessing was given by a woman, and the Holy Eucharist was a sweet-tasting brown bread that was broken off and given to the people? I felt sick that so many people seemed to have no idea that this might be invalid and even sacriligious. (I did go to Mass later in the day because I had a feeling that I had not yet attended Mass and I wanted to pray for all of the Dominican sisters in Grand Rapids who think they can do whatever they want and not give us a Holy Mass.)

I wonder what diocese Bishop Coyne was visiting. As a Bishop, did he not have a responsibility to report this unorthodpx behavior? If it takes a village to raise a child doesn’t it stand to reason that we all have a responsibility to chastize erring children. I have often thought that there should be a form of peer review for priests. Hopefully the changes/corrections coming to the liturgy this Advent will put a stop to abuses that occur at some the Masses.

The problems stem from the very lax theology of many of our seminaries. Certainly it is apparent ‘that satan entered the sanctuary with the smoke in the vatican’ during the last few decades.
We can all thank God that that trend has been exposed and is being corrected. We are seeing some beautifull, dedicated holy men coming out of our seminaries now.

Bishop Coyne & his commitment to the novus ordo “mass” is what is wrong with the Church today. Prior to VC II, wht distinguished the Church from heretical
“Christian” denominations was the Church’s commitment to Tradition and the principle of “traditio” – I pass on to those who follow what has come before. The Council of Trent and its infallible decrees and canons exposed the errors of the protestant revolt and laid out a guide for FIDELITY to authentic Church teaching; among these was the mandate to the pope (Pius IV) and his successor, Pope St. PIUS V to standardize the Holy Books – Catechism, Breviary and Mass – to eliminate any possibility of error creeping into the very foundation of our Faith. In “Quo Primum”, the promulgating document for the Mass, pope St. Pius V in no uncertain terms spelled out that this Mass was to be celebrated always and forever and that any changes thereto would incur excommunication; remember his actions were the result of orders given him by an infallible document of the Council of Trent.

Where does this leave the novus ordo? If you have to ask, I suggest you read Michael Davies article, “The Fort is Betrayed” (sub-title, protestants and the New Mass); he points out that no fewer than 6 individuals from 6 different protestant (heretical) sects served as liturgical consultants in the creation of this “mass”; that all references to sacrifice were expunged and all that is left is a commorative meal. so effective was the work of these heretics in desroying the TRUTH of the nature of the Traditional Mass that more than one of them noted at the conclusion of this effort that this liturgy would be acceptable for celebration in their own churches.

May Our Lord and His blessed Mother return us and our misguided leaders to the TRUE FAITH and the TRUE MASS.

Along with not changing the words or the matter, it is also questionable if the priest does not truly believe in the transubstantiation…the changing of the matter into the True Body & Blood of Christ. It becomes questionable when the Novus Ordo is said without reverence & the bread & wine once consecrated are handled as though it were merely bread & wine. One must pay close attention to every word & move at Mass in order to decide whether or not it is worthy of participation.

Thank you Bishop! I am a post-Vatican II mother and I have been dismayed when on vacation myself and getting a Mass of “individuality”. I have walked out on improper liturgies (I won’t even mention). There needs to be correction in these circumstances and if some people feel that it doesn’t matter, then they can be part of any denomination, this is why we are the “universal church”….the Mass is the same wherever you go..If a priest “makes it up” then I question what he actually believes….and how can you celebrate Mass without being in full-communion with Church teachings?..isn’t that what the priesthood is all about? I hope all bishops are as courageous.

Those who can find it should read the prophetic words of:
1) Fr. Malachi Martin in the last pgs of Keys Of This Blood
2)Fr. Anthony Cekada/Philothea Press.com/store/work of human hands
3)Dr. Coomaswamy
4)Luthers Liturgical Works
5)Michael Davies

All of the above have written scholarly works on the abuses the Bishop talks about.I too am saddened and have endured 40 years of feeling ostrasized in the Religion I believe in.We need more Bishops to speak out!And the pew people need to educate themselves because they are living in the dark.Thank you Bishop for true guidance. I hope all will take your words to heart.

It’s this lack of veneration from the altar that our young leave in droves. My parish re instituted the bells and smells along with proper liturgical music. It really makes a difference in your worship. Within the year we had to add another Mass to the Sunday calender in order to assist the growth of the Parish in an already established community.

I, too am a child of VAC II. I don’t long for the Latin Mass either. I do take Holy Communion on the tongue, as I was taught. I love the Mass as it is and wouldn’t change anything about it. In my parish, we are blessed to have wonderful priests.

I live in Canada and we too are being subjected to this New Age form of Mass.

Up until 6 weeks ago we had two very Holy Priests. We now have a Priest that came into our Parish, got rid of our Latin Masses, dismantled our Adoration Chapel and completely changed the form of Mass. We no longer have a Crucifix on the Altar and his handling of the Blessed Sacrament is nothing less than disgusting. All this happened the first week he arrived.

I agree with a lot of the people that have written – we must get back to reverence in the Church as a whole. There are countless people who are leaving the Church because of these abuses. We must continue to pray for Holy Priests, Priests who are seeking a vocation and not a vacation.

I must tell you, I’m a convert and if I wanted to attend a Protestant Church I would have stayed a Protestant. I love my Catholic faith, the one true Church and it pains me deeply to see what is happening.I can’t help but think how much it pains our Lord.

This was a beautiful home for my husband and myself, a house which was built on a rock which has now been moved to a house on sand.

Thank you Bishop Coyne for your article! It is a devil’s trick to make us so angry with the creativity of priests in the Liturgy which belongs to God, that we sin ourselves in becoming jurdgemental, resentlful, and in many cases, using the abuses of the priests in the Sacred Liturgy as an excuse to exit the Church’s Sacraments. One holy priest hasdtold us in his homilies at Two Hearts Vigil Masses in Atlanta that the charism of the Two Hearts is to suffer silently in reparation for the outrages and sacriledges performed in the Mass by disobedient priests. He said that there are those who are supposed to speak and take action but that we as victim souls of the Two Hearts must pray silently and offer our anoyances for the salvation of souls, especially the rebellious priests. His answer after this Mass was completed as to who is responsible for speaking up and taking action, this good priest replied, “Those in authority such as bishops, officials in the Archdiocese, etc.”
And so Bishop Coyne, you are one such authority who can take action while the rest of us victim souls suffer in reparation for the sins against the Sacred Liturgy.
God bless you! Katie

Bill if I understand you correctly then you are a part of the problem. A priest does not have the option to change the way the Mass is celebrated, EVER! It doesn’t matter where we go to Mass, here in the US or in any other country, the Mass is always celebrated the same. This is how it is and no priest has the right to change it. Whether God is upset or not is none of our concern, but attended a valid Mass is. One last thought, priests are people too and they make mistakes, they desperately need our prayers and sometimes we need to respectfully let them know when something is bothering us.

Most Reverend Coyne,
I cringe at the thought of attending a Vatican II Mass knowing full well what is about to happen. The only real Vatican II Mass I have seen beautifully offered is the one on EWTN. I have been there in person and appreciate all the effort they put into honoring Our Lord! The other Masses tear at my heart and feel as though someone just shot a dagger through it. I try to make reparation to Our Lord and wonder if I am not supposed to be there just for that reason. But in the end it makes me work harder at attending the Tridentine Mass. In our diocese we have on most days 2 Masses offered. Even though its a 50 mile round trip, and costs in gas and time I am never ever disappointed. When on vacation, which is rare these days, my husband and I try to find a Traditional Mass closest to our destination. Because I am a nurse and work in an emergency room -some Sundays are required. That is when I must attended the Norvus Ordo. I hate the irreverence shown Our Lord by both the parishoners and the clergy. I am not sure who said it but,”A Mass badly celebrated is an enormous evil, it is not a matter of indifference how it is said!” If you are interested in learning the Tridentine Mass I have a resource for you. Today, Friday, I will be attending the evening(6:30)Mass and will pray for your intentions. Thank you, joan

Once we start leaving word out and “forget ” parts of the Mass, we become complacent ,and the awe and reverence dissapate also. Reprimand the priest and forhis own sake and salvation let him know what he’s doing wrong and why it is wrong!

I fully understand the Bishop’s concerns. I myself have moved around alot due to work, home situations and health problems. I used to go to a church where the priest, a somewhat older fellow, would completely make up most of the Mass. Where I go to Mass now, the priest does add a few words here and there to the liturgy, but nothing terrible. What bothers me though, is that they have the readers read a meditation and somewhat explain the reading prior to the readings. I have heard that this is a no-no. I pray for our Holy Mother Church. The liturgical abuses are really frightening. Thanks for listening to me rant.

A priest who was ordained in 1954 told me that in order for a sacrament to be licit that the proper ‘form’ and ‘matter’ had to be used. The form (the correct words said) and matter (water, unleavened wheat bread, wine from natural grapes, chrism, etc) had to be correct. If the priest is purposely changing form or matter to fit his style then I don’t know how the Mass in any way can be proclaimed licit. If it is a day of obligation when the Mass is not licit then those in the pews can’t be held accountable but the priest sure will be held accountable. Did Vatican II change the rules of form and matter?

In March 2004 Pope JP II released the document Redemptionis Sacramentum to deal with liturgical abuses in the Novus Ordo form of the Mass. This document proclaims that the Mass is Jesus’ Mass and not to be altered to satisfy someones whims. After reading this document in 2005 I started to observe what my parish pastor was doing and was able to document 2 dozen abuses he was committing. When I brought up a couple abuses directly related to the Eucharist I was angrily told “to stop being a liturgical policeman”! My good name was then dragged in the mud by him to other members of the parish.

I also am tired of the many psycho-babble sermons I have had to endure. I take care of my family, my house, my property, work hard and have done volunteer work which no one else would do because it entailed getting hot, sweaty, dirty cleaning up the area around the church. I would consider myself a ‘rugged individual’, an apparent dirty word these days. I once sat through a sermon from a pastor in which he condemned ‘rugged individuals’ as self-centered, basically narcissistic.

The worst abuse I have heard of? After Vatican II around ‘69-70, at a relative’s parish, the priest at Mass was consecrating ……….. potato chips!

Thank you Excellency for your frank and honest comments, and for your faithfulness to the Church. It’s refreshing that someone of your stature in the Church sees and is frustrated by the numerous liturgical improvizations, which seem to grow year after year. I suspect the Holy Father agrees with you, as evidenced by his work to encourage a more faithful celebration of the Novus Ordo, and his expanding of the celebration of the Trindentine Mass. Those who don’t think it matters how the Mass is celebrated, or doubt the significance of the actions of the priest (in Persona Christi) or participants at Mass, should read some of Scott Hahn’s well researched books on the Catholic Mass to discover it’s true meaning and importance in our lives, in the world, and in God’s Plan for humanity. Although this widespread improvization is a most bitter and painful frustration for many, charity compels my family and I to continue to pray for both our priests and the laity, esp. those who no longer even see these changes as a problem, or its connection to the moral breakdown in our society currently well underway. Praying, trusting, and trying not to worry in CT!

Thank You for BEING a Good Priestly Son Of Mary’s ,and an advocate for the rest of us! YOU give the rest of us HOPE ! God Bless You and Thank You for answering the call to the Priesthood too! <3 Pax,Mary C

“Byzcat” I am also of the same due to the nonsense and entertainment offered as the Mass and truly pray that all parishes would give us the choice of the Tridentine Liturgy EVERY SUNDAY instead of all the nonsense of the Mass in spanish,italian,sometimes tagalog etc. Why are they afraid to offer us the choice ?

as for the possibility of the wording being omitted or altered during the Consecration ? Could this be the abomination of desolation spoken of in the Book of Daniel ?

Has anyone ever gone to a Lutheran service lately…I did when my father-in-law died and my children remarked how similar the new mass was to this protestant service .What does that tell you? To me it is a reminder how far we have gone since the Tridentine mass has been so carelessly tossed aside! Abuses are rampant in the new mass and where has the reverence gone? How about the fact that they keep changing words/gestures? They are not going to get it right until they realize that the Tridentine Mass should never have been made so rare and return to it.

Here is a Bishop of Vatican 2 correcting a priest of Vatican 2, what is that all about ?
Vat.2 ruined the church, look at the evil in the world since the early 1960’s, the empty churches, the closing of catholic schools, sex scandals etc.
Pope Paul 6 said of theat council, ” the smoke of satan has entered the church”.
I go to Mass for one reason today, for the Most Holy Eucharist, given out by a woman or ” deacon”, and received by most with little or no respect. It ain’t the church I remember.

I recently read Lucy’s wonderful summary of ADORATIO 2011, the Eucharistic conference held this summer in Rome. [Lucy is a devout Catholic in France]. What I took away with me is this potent phrase:
« LEX ORANDI, LEX CREDENDI : HOW ONE PRAYS IS HOW ONE BELIEVES” “This idea was repeated so many times by the priests, Bishops and Cardinals who spoke during the 5-day conference on Perpetual Adoration at the Salesianum in Rome.

“The Church is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she who abides in Perfect Love within the Blessed Trinity. Because of this, she is constantly yearning, pulled towards the greatest possible union with the Trinity, in all of her actions, in her statements…her expressions of Faith , Hope and Love. Everything she does is meant to be done FREELY, motivated by LOVE. If one believes, as a Catholic, that the Church is the Spouse , and that she has always been lead by the Holy Spirit, then one desires to adore, to serve and to love in fullness. Nowhere is the fullness of love expressed more perfectly than in the LITURGY. Every action, every single word, every posture, every moment has come to us by long tradition through time. The Church desires for the Liturgy to « look like » the « way we love ». She desires for us to adore in a form of ritual that is the fullfillment of this dialogue of love , in a « fusion » of all that was before , during and after Vatican II .”

I attend a little Catholic church served by priests of the Divine Word, and I am happy to say that for the most part, the liturgy is reverently served by the people and priest, with all appropriate solemnity. The dress is not up to par, but the liturgy itself is nourishing—it truly feeds the soul as it offers true worship to the Father through Christ.

I can’t help but feel that the reason so many of our churches are serving “pap” and making the faithful (?) wonder if the Mass is even a legitimate one is that the priest is lacking in faith and probably doesn’t even have a prayer life. We all know that apostasy is alive and well INSIDE our holy church.

Let us all get on our knees and pray about it. We are fairly helpless to change it; only Christ himself can save His poor bride who is breaking His Sacred Heart. We all know that He will not allow this situation to continue, and will not allow the world to continue in its hideous ways. Chastisement is on the way. Let us pray for mercy.

Yes, bishop, this is why I started going to the Tridentine Mass; t This and some really crazy heretical humiliations in the confessional. I got fed up. But there is more to it than just style or mistakes as I learned when I read Ratzinger’s “Spirit of the Liturgy” and Klaus Gamber.

Byzcat is spot on – it’s about entering into the sacrifice of Christ first and foremost. If, then, the mass is about entering into Calvary might I ask who is singing “Come Dance in the Forest”? Is it Mary? St. John? The Centurion? There’s a lot of work to do. No?

Yes, this is wide spread, and where are the Bishops that
are in charge of these parishes, it is more of a wolf in sheeps clothing
one day soon the priests will have to answer to all of this,
and will have to answer for all of there downfall, with twice
the chastisment for them , as for the faithful,
May they see the light before its too late for them,
we just never know when we breath our last breath….

“I’m pretty sure it was still a valid Mass even though he changed the words of the Eucharistic institution” And pray tell, why on earth would changing the words in any way invalidate the spiritual intention of the act? Is mass some sort of ‘magic spell’ wherein the sorcerer must recite the wizardly incantation precisely or the spell won’t work? Is it like reciting a Shakespeare play? Does God have trouble understanding everyday English? I don’t recall Jesus writing a script for mass that he demanded must be followed. Jesus actually warned about such a mindset as this Bishop is displaying here. Jesus spoke about the Pharisees who placed the greatest emphasis on the “letter of the law” and trivial minutae, while missing the whole point of the teachings and leading selfish, mean, sinful lives. Yes, I’m glad to see our bishops are addressing the truly important and monumental issues, such as the wording of a ceremony, instead of the trifling social matters that affect the lives of God’s people every day. Clearly, Bishop Coyne would have felt very much at home with his Pharisee brethren, and they would recognize one of their own.

There is nothing wrong with the Novus Ordo mass in itself. It does not lend itself to abuses any more than any other form of mass the Church has ever had. The biggest problem is that it was not implemented correctly to begin with. According to the council, all priests and lay people were supposed to be fully instructed in the new liturgical form and have all the changes explained. For example it is not a matter of whether or not the priest is facing the people, he is facing the altar in both forms. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy states that, “Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” Those in dissent with the Church used the lack of instruction and confusion of the times to implement their own ideas even feigning that Vatican 11 changed everything and allowed for everything. This has been promulgated by all those in dissent in every area of our country and throughout the years since the council. In 1978 a newly ordained associate pastor at my parish was sent by the bishop over several summers to get a degree in liturgy at Notre Dame. He came back after that first summer and started a teen mass, the first that I am aware of anywhere. He began to have people stand through the consecration, hold hands at the Our Father, have a band for the music including electric guitars and drums, do skits during the homily up on the altar and have the teens go up to the altar and stand up there surrounding the altar during the consecration. This was only at teen mass at first but eventually it spread to all the masses. After he left our parish after 5 yrs and went to another parish he soon founded Life Teen and the spreading of this took no time at all. He has recently left the Church and been laicized but he fully believed he was within his rights as a priest since that is what he learned from those who taught him at Notre Dame. Even after the Bishop (a successor to the one who sent him to liturgy school)took him to Rome to meet with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Sacraments and Worship who set him straight on the Church teachings on the Sacred liturgy, he seemed to be in disbelief that it had been forbidden all this time. My point is that if all bishops mandated their priests to offer the mass as the Church intends to offer it, it would be reverential and efficacious to every soul who attended. Canon law states “The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescripts of their own rite approved by the legitimate pastors of the Church.” The fault does not lie with the Novus Ordo, it lies with those responsible for giving it to the faithful as the Church has intended and not allowing all those who have their own agenda to have power in their respective parishes to do as they wish.

Wow am I so heartened that a Bishop sees it as the lay person sees it – so often we suffer through utter lack of reverence for our Lord – praise God for your defense – do not ever stop speaking up for God – such an obvious point but in short supply these days…

Finally, a Bishop who sees what I’ve seen for the last 40 years. I too am in search of a good novus ordo mass. I too can’t find priests who will bother to say the Gloria during a Feast or a Solemnity or who bother to follow the liturgical norms. The sad thing is most Catholics don’t even know when the celebrant isn’t following them. They have no clue. And all we do is sing about “ourselves” and how WE are community. I have been in guitar groups, have sang “Glory and Praise” songs in choir, and swayed to catchy lyrics. But there was this nagging feeling that mass should be more transcendant, more holy, more solemn. I have gone full circle, making my first communion in the tridentine mass and I am happily attending the latin mass again. Thank you Holy Father for the moto proprio. And guess what…the priests at those masses in their homilies talk about sin, hell, confession and promote devotions to our Lady, Holy Hours and Benediction. I am finally home.

God isn’t a bystander. If we study Scripture and the writings of the early church fathers it is clear as a whistle that God has a certain order of how we are supposed to worship Him – even down to the high priest’s garbs. God DOES care and I applaud Bishop Coyne for acknowledging what many of us laymen frequently experience when visiting parishes as we’re left asking, “Why can’t we just celebrate Mass as it is documented in the Missalette?” – oooh I forgot, a lot of those same parishes don’t have Missalettes. Maybe with the upcoming changes will also introduce an opportunity for all of us to learn about the Mass.

Mass is not the solemn way it used to be. There is no reverence anymore. People talk before Mass and even during Mass. Some dress like their going to a picnic.No respect for Gods house anymore. You never hear the priests talk about sin anymore,its all about how much Jesus loves us.We all know Jesus loves us because He died a horrible death for our sins.At least at our church the lector tells everyone that in respect for God and the people to turn off all cell phones. And what about people chewing gum or candy and drinking water and the ones that leave after Communion and not waiting for the final blessing. How sad it is what has happened to the Mass. Give me the Latin Mass anytime which is more solemn and beautiful. God help us all!

It does matter how reverently a Priest (persona Christie) says, prays, a Mass, the holy sacrifice. It is telling as to the Priest’s prayer life. We recently visited a small town in Georgia, and attended mass at Our Lady of the Mountains. I told my husband afterward that it was as if we attended a heavenly feast – The priest was probably in his late 30’s, and his reverence, fervor, love of Jesus was so apparent, and his message about God’s love for us, far beyond human love of emotions. It was heaven on Earth, and the connection between him and Jesus was so visible and audible. I believe that I was healed in many ways at that mass. Praise be to God for His Holy Priests, our Shepherds. We would be lost without them. St. John Vianney, pray for us and for all of His Priests that they may always remember their calling, to be Jesus on Earth, and lead all souls to salvation.

In my diocese of Syracuse, New York, most of the priests have adopted the habit of joking around with the congregation during various parts of the Mass. A homily without a few laughs is no homily. Interestingly, I have traveled to many states and countries and, where I see the least amount of craziness is in former, Communist countries. There, even when the Novus Ordo is celebrated, people and priest , celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass, make no jokes, pray deeply and attentively and sing as if there’s no tomorrow. Also interestingly, most churches have many daily Masses, there are few priests, and the churches have plenty of people in them. There are no envelopes to keep track of IRS deductions and the young people who attend do not find it necessary to expose either breasts or bellies to the congregation. Most interest is the fact that these churches have lots of fokks between ages 16-45, fewer from about 45-55, a handful over 70 and hardly any in the 55-65 age group. I wonder what happened worldwide? I’m 65 so, I know and am comfortable with the Tridentine Mass, have no problem with a reverently celebrated Novus Ordo Mass but prefer to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at an altar rail, on my knees. In that position I not forget my insignificance and sinfulness. The efficiency of the American way, the quick lines and quick handouts of hosts sometimes make me wonder if the hosts are even consecrated. We have gone through the various movements in the arts when we’ve embellished and removed. In the Liturgy, it is not necessary to change anything. It seems to me that it was nice and complete for more than a thousand years.

The traditional Latin Mass; the most Holy Act of worship of the Roman Catholic Church, has been devastated, corrupted and defiled.

What has happened to the Catholic church I knew? The mass I used to attend was said in Latin and we knelt to receive communion on our tongues. This was a sign of respect and esteem.

There was no “sign of peace”. There was no hand shaking during mass. The organ music and choir were located in the balcony. There were no guitars. no drums, no instruments of any kind up front. Mass was not a “social gathering”.

The only signing coming from the Altar was from the priest during a High Mass. Other than the priest and Altar boys, there was no one else standing before the Blessed Sacrament. The priest faced the Altar, faced Our Lord in the Eucharist.
Our Lord alone was the focal point.
Our Lord alone was worshiped.

Now, the priest has turned around, making the community the focal point. Attention is focused upon the congregation, rather than God. The priest now stands before a “table” and the Holy Sacrafice of the Mass has turned into a “supper”.

In 1846, Our Lady appeared at La Sallete and prophesied that “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Anti-Christ. The church will be in eclipse”.

In 1915, Our Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima to 3 children and revealed 3 events which would happen. The third part of the message was to remain a secret until the year 1960, because it would make more sense then. But because the third part of the secret was suppressed and not revealed, change came into the Catholic Church and caught people unaware. Catholics accepted the “modernization” of the Mass, accepted the disrespectful practice of “communion in the hand”, accepted each and every change that was perpetrated within the church and among our priests and Bishops.

Today’s “modern” mass is false.

Every priest ordained after Vatican 11 is invalid because the words were changed.

Receiving communion and attending today’s Mass is breaking the First Commandment, “Thou shall have no false gods before Me”. You are worshiping an idol.

It is NOT Jesus Christ who is in the Tabernacle.

There are very few Catholic Churches where the Traditional Latin Mass is still said.
Search for them, they can be found.

Amen to Terrig and Deb in the Pews I am very blessed as far as my parish goes. I think having perpetual adoration has alot of influence on a parish and its priests and it shows because the priests are reverent and the Masses are as orthodox and reverent as can be.

Dear friends in Christ… Let Jesus do the judging. Our job is to pray for our priest. I come from a rather small parish (150 families) where I witness many things that are not exactly like Rome and some other parishes. But one thing I do know is that jesus comes to every mass and he feeds us with His Love to sustain us for another week. My goal at every mass is to enter into the celebration. Our little Church is packed (mostly people with families} and continues to attract hundreds of new visitors every year. They come to encounter the living Christ because nobody walks away feeling hungry. A Church alive is worth the drive…

By not saying Mass as prescribed by the Church the priests are acting in disobedience to due Church authority in a very public way. We all know that priests, when ordained make a vow of obedience. Therefore, abuse of the liturgy becomes another public priestly scandal, along with all of the other ramifications of a Mass poorly said. Is it not time that the hierarchy deal with priests who are scandalising the faithful in this way?

I was wondering, as Im way past Vat2… is it ok for priests to say, from the pulpit, they cant wait for female priests..pro choice is good…change the creed to say ” he became one of us”.. to preach Jesus never really needed to die on the cross..he could have retired an old fisherman in the country side? ( I thought thats what the whole redemption plan was about? The sacrifice of the blood of the lamb?), that Jesus didnt really multiply loaves of bread and fish..a child in the crowd shared his, and it shamed all the rest of the men into pulling out the bread and fish they had hidden under their tunics, and shared with everyone?, ( hot middle east, rotting fish, and food prification laws aside?), that the eucharist is symbolic of the sacrifice ( which never really needed to happen).. its an opportunity symbolically to come together and all share one humanity of love? That Gods not a cruel God, he didnt dangle his son from the cross until the last sin was covered..” oh..15 more minutes..no..make that 20..ok..he can die now”..it was just one of those bad things that happened back then? I am sharing real experiences..and these are just a few..and why our young family FLED to a Latin mass parish. These things were wrong..and we were not going to sit there with our kids and listen to that. Am I wrong? Is all of this really what is true, and held acceptable in mainstream Catholicism? I dont know about Vatican 2, so its possible these were among the changes? If it wasnt for the Latin mass..to avoid self and heart felt out right heresy..instead of my husband joing the Catholic church..I would have said no, better stay where youre at til yhis blows over..I’ll come over to your traditional Baptist congregation and hide a while..at least they havent messed with the entire concept of the redemption and Christ come as redeemer part! Can anyone enlighten me here? I mean, for real, is that what Vat2 did..and what the church now believes?

there has been much talk and some very strange actions in the mass setting . john leary.com has been talking about a remnant church/schism church and with all the abuses the remnant is looking better . st paul says , not to go from church to church looking for something more favorable . if we attend our churches and the pastor sees us and knows us and if we speak about what we find objectional , then there is a greater likelyhood that things will change for the better , once he knows someone is actually paying attention . it is only when new age stuff is introduced and there is no regard for whats right are we to leave . we have a cenical based on-our lady speaks to her beloved sons -fr.gobbi . this sometimes includes mass at someones house . perhaps a cenicale can be started at your parish .

On Sunday, I attended mass at a conservative Catholic Church. My eyes popped out(I am a woman) at the Eucharistic Minister in a tan dress with a V neck slit down about 12 inches of her chest being exposed to view.
This is not the first time she has served as a EM in inappropriate attire. Yet, no one has the guts to tell her to put on a shawl.

The family taking up the gifts was composed of a mom with shorts, a daughter with short shorts, and several casually dressed boys.

I do not know why they chose this family to take up the gifts for a Sunday mass. They looked like they were going to the beach. Oh, well. What can we do?

The closest Catholic Church to my home is just a few miles away. However, I rarely will attend the mass there as the priest sits in the congregation for most of the mass. The tabernacle is off to one side in a wooden box. There might be as many as 8 eucharistic ministers while there might be as few as 20-30 people at mass. Preaching largely assures us that no one sins anymore. Everyone who approaches the altar bows to it rather than to the tabernacle. The chatter level prior to mass is enormous.
The reverence is just not there. I do cringe.